makes one 8-inch square cake
Music Pairing: Love is Strange by Mickey & Sylvia
This recipe is unlike any other carrot cake. For starters, it’s made with a classic cake-making technique of creaming butter and sugar. Most carrot cake recipes use oil as the fat, which in my opinion makes for a heavy cake. There are also no raisins—add them if you like, but I’m not a fan of raisins in my cakes. I totally intend to add some chopped walnuts the next time I make it, too. I think a 1/2 cup chopped would be a nice addition.
1 1/2 cups (225 grams) whole wheat pastry flour
1/4 teaspoon (2 grams) fleur de sel
2 teaspoons (8 grams) baking powder
1/2 teaspoon (3 grams) chai masala (my recipe is here)
1 stick (112 grams) butter, softened
3/4 cup (150 grams) granulated natural cane sugar
1 large egg, at room temperature
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
3/4 cup (187 ml) milk
1 1/2 cups (130 grams) shredded carrots (from about 2 medium, peeled carrots)
2 very ripe fuyu persimmons, peeled & diced
Preheat the oven to 350F. Line an 8-inch square baking pan with parchment paper. You can alternatively grease the bottoms and sides with butter; I was just feeling a little lazy tired.
Add the flour, fleur de sel, baking powder and chai masala to a medium bowl. Whisk to combine; set aside.
Add the butter and sugar to a deep bowl, and beat on high using a hand or stand mixer, until light and creamy. Add the egg and vanilla. Beat until well mixed and fluffy, 1 to 2 minutes. Pour in the flour mixture and the milk. Turn the mixer on to its lowest speed, and mix until just combined. Beat on high for 1 more minute. Use a rubber spatula to fold in the carrots and persimmon. The batter will loosen up a bit from the juice in the persimmons, but it will still be a relatively thick batter, so don’t worry.
Spoon the batter into the prepared pan, and spread it to the edges. Bake 50 to 55 minutes until the cake is a deep golden color, and a metal skewer inserted in the center comes out clean. Transfer the pan to a wire rack, and let cool completely before serving, or frosting, if desired.